Swearing to himself that he would never again deviate from the work at hand, Xu Xiaoshou went back to sit in front of that massive tub and dedicated himself to making alchemy work.

"Since I couldn't control that compressed fire seed the size of a fingernail, I guess I'll have to resort to the next best thing: using rasen… ehem, a fireball for doing alchemy."

​​

He grasped, and a ball-shaped flame appeared on his hand, which he then threw into the tub.

It took mere seconds for that milky white tub to turn red hot and the temperature to rise exponentially

He then recalled how Elder Sang had dumped the herbs into the tub earlier like they cost nothing. As such, he went on to grab a bunch of herbs from the ring and dumped them into the tub.

Fzzzz!

All of the herbs were reduced to dust while they were still midair. There was no extract to be had. Not even ash was left!

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

"Sure enough, the temperature is too high.

"These are flames capable of outright evaporating spirit crystals, after all.

"Furthermore, I lack the prowess of the elder, who was capable of separating the herbs.

"Guess I'll have to do it one by one, then."

He willed for the flames to be at a level that he could control before compressing.

A bundle was thrown inside.

Fzzz.

"Still won't do, eh?"

He didn't continue doing this. He wasn't impulsive. While the supply of herbs was massive, simply dumping them without a care would be too wasteful, so he needed to come to some other conclusion.

Well…

There was no conclusion to be had. The temperature of the flames was still too high, after all.

"How should I go about lowering its temperature?"

He stroked his chin and furrowed his brown before suddenly coming to a realization.

"If the temperature is still too high, how about I just suck it up with Breathing Technique, then?

"I'm so smart!"

He high-fived himself. Such a way of doing things was workable, as exhalation from Breathing Technique could be used for more than just training.

He opened his pores, and the heat was sucked into his body. That ball-shaped flame beneath the tub no longer looked as menacing.

He Sensed heat rising and started to sweat all over, but it was still well within his limits.

Unlike when he'd refined the Infernal Fire Seed, this little spike in temperature didn't even manage to cause his Information Bar to pop up with a message saying that he was being attacked.

He then threw another bundle into the tub.

The next one landed perfectly inside. It hovered in the tub per the effects of the spiritual source, yet it took less than a second for the bundle to be reduced to nothing.

Hmm…

He stopped what he was doing, finding his method to be unsustainable.

He realized that he'd never be able to keep the heat energy he was sucking into his body at a constant rate. The temperature of the flames would always fluctuate. Such temperatures could never be used for alchemy.

However, given that he couldn't do anything else, he had to just keep trying.

"Practice makes perfect.

"Alchemy is indeed about precision, and that old fart's right. I could indeed become able to control my powers with precision throughout the process."

He took out a bundle, but a message popped up in his Information bar before he was able to throw it in the tub.

Surrounded, Passive Points +1.

"Huh?

"Surrounded?"

He was momentarily startled, and checked his surroundings, but found no one to be around.

"Wait, outside then?

"Someone's surrounded the library?"

He recalled that masked figure from last night, and his skin crawled. It left him wondering if someone was trying to attack the library in broad daylight.

How did they manage to get inside the Tiansang Spirit Palace?

He then put the herbs away and took two ball-shaped flames in his hand, getting ready to throw the 'Lesser Fireball.' He sneaked to the window and peeked outside.

Sh**!

So many of them!

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked.

A massive number of personnel clad in black stretched as far as the eye could see, completely surrounding the library in three inner layers and three outer layers.

"Hold on…

"Black attire?

"Aren't these people the enforcers from the Spiritual Law Division?"

He was rather exasperated. He pushed the window open and saw someone step out of the group.

That person looked rather familiar.

That referee from that group match back then?

He opened his eyes wide and rubbed them, then looked outside again, immediately meeting the man's gaze.

"It's you?"

"It's you?"

Both of them uttered at the same time.

Zhao Xidong was completely baffled, and he realized that all the plans he'd made were now null and void.

Xu Xiaoshou?

How could it be him?

Wait, no, how did this guy manage to get inside the library?

"No, no, no," he thought. "Isn't he still a disciple of the Outer Yard? I should say, how dare he sneak inside the Inner Yard.

"And wait… the explosions. He had something to do with those too?

"Impossible!

"That's Xu Xiaoshou for you, man!"

Doubted, Passive Points +1.

Doubted, Passive Points +1.

Doubted, Passive Points +1.

"…"

Xu Xiaoshou was pleased. He looked at the referee without saying anything, yet he kept asking him to say more deep down.

"Come on, put that imagination of yours to work.

"I don't know what's going on inside your head, but I'm not gonna stop you from thinking.

"Thinking is what enables humans to progress."

Zhao Xidong saw that the young man was all silent. He then recalled that said young man had also killed Feng Kong and Shao Yi, as well as the unexpected results of the matches.

Was he really the cause of the explosions?

He wasn't the only one who was confused. Every enforcer present was just as confused as he was.

A good number of them knew Xu Xiaoshou, not just because of his peculiar performances back in the Wind and Cloud Contest but, more importantly, from that fight last night. That young man was the only one there at Acquired Level training, yet he was the focus of the whole ordeal.

Doubted, Passive Points +169

Doubted, Passive Points +112

Doubted, Passive Points +84

"…"

Awesome!

Xu Xiaoshou stood at the window, clenching his fists a little. Just that one meeting of their eyes had enabled his accumulated points to reach almost 6000.

Zhao Xidong was tired of waiting and asked, "You were the one responsible for that explosion back there?"

"Yeah." Xu Xiaoshou nodded. He supported his chin with both hands as he rested his elbows on the window sill. "Relax. The library is fine. You can all leave."

"Huh?"

Everyone was dumbfounded. It was fine when he wasn't saying anything! What he said flustered them.

Doubted, Passive Points +266.

Xu Xiaoshou was pleased. He found that for some reason, every time he told the truth, no one believed him, which meant there was no need for him to lie.

"Why are you in the library, and on the third floor at that?"

Zhao Xidong was flustered. "That's off-limits to you! Get down here at once! It's already a grave enough offense for a disciple of the Outer Yard to enter the Inner Yard without permission, and you… you dare to trespass in the library?"

"Elder Sang summoned me," Xu Xiaoshou answered.

Doubted, Passive Points +266.

Everyone immediately doubted this, yet when they recalled that Elder Sang had indeed saved him the previous night, they all of a sudden thought it was indeed possible.

Whatever. The Passive Points were in.

"Why did Elder Sang summon you?" Zhao Xidong was curious.

"Alchemy."

Doubted, Passive Points +267.

Xu Xiaoshou was amused. He saw yet another enforcer come onto the scene, joining the army of point-givers.

Zhao Xidong then chuckled out of frustration. "Alchemy, you say?" he thought.

"Sh**, you think I'm gonna buy that! I can't believe you actually said Elder Sang summoned you!

"Furthermore, is alchemy really something a guy at level nine like you should be doing?

"You don't even have an Innate Elemental Trait! What are you gonna do alchemy with, huh?

Woodfire?

"What a joke!"